More news from Oilers camp this morning with two new, possibly temporary, additions to the roster:

When last we looked at the Oilers roster situation right after the deadline, the squad had stripped down to a minimum 20 players, then used the first of its four post-deadline recalls to bring back Philip Larsen to fill in for the injured Anton Belov. There was no suggestion that Larsen was considered an emergency recall, even as his presence was necessary to ice a full team against New York Islanders Thursday night.

However, the squad has referenced the “emergency recall” clause in bringing up Swedish prospects Oscar Klefbom and Anton Lander this morning, suggesting they are here temporarily to fill in for injured players. One wonders who that might be, given that all 20 players who suited up on Thursday participated in Oilers practice at Millennium Place this morning. That number included Jeff Petry, who resumed skating with the team after leaving Thursday’s game in the first period with a reported back injury. Of course “skating today” does not necessarily equate to “playing an NHL game tomorrow” so the chances seem pretty good Klefbom will get his NHL debut against the Kings.

Lander’s situation is a little more problematic in that there are no apparent injuries/illnesses in play. As Jonathan Willis points out over at Oilers Nation:

Article 13.12 (m)(ii) of the CBA allows the league to ask for proof of emergency circumstances if there’s any suspicion otherwise

It seems like hair-splitting but it’s an important point. The Oilers are only allowed four non-emergency recalls from the trade deadline until the end of the season. Larsen was #1. Klefbom and Lander are potentially #2 and #3. That would leave precious little room to manoeuvre down a stretch drive that still has 18 games to play out.

In the short term, perhaps the Oilers have tipped their hand as to which players they want to test drive. On the blue line it was likely going to be either Klefbom or Taylor Fedun, not both, although giving Oscar a game or two under emergency recall rules, then sending him down when Petry is ready, would leave both options open down the road.

Up front, the best options at centre are Lander or Mark Arcobello, but likely not both. Arcobello has been making a lot of noise down in the AHL, piling up 22 points in 11 games, including scoring both goals in the Barons’ crucial 2-1 win in Hamilton Friday night that kept them within two points of the final playoff spot. Lander set up the second of those, not surprisingly a powerplay goal that saw both big guns on the ice at the same time.

Despite showing relatively little at the NHL level the past couple of years, Lander remains a player of interest to the organization as his three-year entry-level contract winds down. He is already a seven-year pro at the tender age of 22, and just as he continually improved throughout his four years in the Swedish League, he has taken big strides during his extended time in Oklahoma City. Specifically, in the past 12 months since he returned full-time to the Barons line-up following an injury incurred in Edmonton, he has played 58 games, scoring 28-35-63, +18. In 2013-14 he was named team captain by Todd Nelson and by all accounts is a central figure on the squad.

His NHL numbers pale in comparison. Including an extended stint in his first North American season, he has tallied just 7 points in 79 games. Bear in mind that most of those opportunities occurred centring the fourth line, a place where offence goes to die, as recent incumbents like Colin Fraser and Eric Belanger can attest. Should Lander find his way into the line-up, one hopes that Dallas Eakins would provide him with an opportunity to play with some skilled wingers rather than being trapped in the Jones-Joensuu-Gazdic loop. Or perhaps Lander himself will slide over to the wing as we have seen on occasion in the past. This Oilers fan would much prefer him to get a legitimate shot at his natural position.

As for Klefbom, the timing is good for him to at least get a taste of NHL action. He’s a thousand days out from his draft day now, during which times he has shown plenty of promise, bouts of inconsistency, and struggles with injury. The latter was likely the reason Larsen got the call over him this past Tuesday, and even last night Klefbom missed the game in Hamilton with a “slight” injury to his shoulder. The big defender was already in town for this morning’s workout, while Lander was still en route.

Coming off major surgery that ended his 2012-13 season early, Klefbom has posted underwhelming numbers in his first North American season. Divide that season into two halves, though, and there are some encouraging signs, at least in the never-that-trustworthy boxcars:

Another encouraging split is shots on goal totals that numbered a meagre 11 in those first 22 games, and soared to 37 in the following 23. Presumably that’s a combination of increased role, ice time and perhaps confidence as well as performance, but at the developmental stages those items often go hand-in-glove.

A final point about Klefbom is that even if he plays the rest of the way with the big club, he would still log well below the 40 GP minimum that would cause this season to count against his future RFA rights, as discussed last summer in this post. Due to his late birthday (July 1993), the Oilers theoretically hold Oscar’s NHL rights through the 2020-21 season.

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